casey jones

the Greatful Dead rendition of early 19th century blues song “Casey Jones” takes the music of a classic american psychedelic rock band and uses the traditional lyrics as a metaphor to some of their own inside drug problems. the diffenence between the origional and the rendition of “casey Jones” shows the evolution of human culture over time and how our modern society interprets traditional ideas. the idea of “authenticity” is practiced through a completely different version of the original song, different playing style, and different meaning. we are able to see a strong insight into the 60’s and 70’s drug counterculture and get a good feel of a period of time in which we werent around for. 

The song itself has a rather upbeat and funk sound to it, however, it does cover a more serious and deep issue of particular band members addicition to cocaine and uses metaphors such as,  “lady in red” signifying an idea of stopping or a red light, and “watch your speed” hinting to make sure one is not overdosing on cocaine. Certain words are stressed more than others revealing more personal messages and intentions conveyed through the song. while the tempo of the song stays consistent for awhile, the end of the song speeds up signalling trouble is in fact coming if a change does not come soon.  

Comments

[mmalouf]

The lyrical differences between the several versions of “Casey Jones” are due to artistic intent by the performers and a product of the environment that they were written in. Lucas Oliver (link:http://tinyurl.com/yk8h4qs) discusses how the Grateful Dead’s version of the song “takes the music of a classic American psychedelic rock band and uses the traditional lyrics as a metaphor to some of their own inside drug problems.” The lyrical retooling of the song to fit the Grateful Dead’s purpose is both understandable and to our own benefit (if lyrical and musical styles had not changed, you’d know Def Leppard as Def Mozart) because it gives us a deeper pool of analysis into the changes and developments of popular music. Lucas Oliver also points out how “the idea of ‘authenticity’ is practiced through a completely different style, and different meaning.” The notion of authenticity is really ambiguous when evaluating Mississippi John Hurt and The Grateful Dead; they’re both undoubtedly “authentic” yet they are separated by 42 years and different in almost every way. The different identities of each Casey Jones, one of an admirable railcar man and another of a cocaine abusing person pushing the limit, define authenticity to a different audience and with a different intent.
The lyrical address and relation of the singer to Casey Jones also changes between Mississippi John Hurt and the Grateful Dead. In Mississippi John Hurt’s version we hear of Casey Jones as a folk hero who died admirably and lives in the psyche of American heroes (this may sound overly dramatic, but this is to characterize that type of folk hero). The Grateful Dead completely alter that relationship and talk about Casey Jones in a more descriptive and foreboding manner. Taylor Fridrich (link: http://tinyurl.com/tayfri)
analyzes the way Jerry Garcia’s delivery as intending to be “talking directly to Casey Jones, Warning him, and trying to grab his attention with intensified volume and instrumentals.” This a really good point, and draw upon the difference in relationship that the performer has to the subject their focusing on.

For your essays, look to draw comparisons of lyrical content in relation to the song as a whole, and maybe the historical context it is in or the particular performer. Look at how the song promotes a message, or and ideal, and think about how that may have changed or stayed the same over the course of history. As you can all imagine, “popular” in popular culture is built upon what preceded it adapted to a particular context, and these songs are no different.